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Im new to this sport, Im looking at purchacing a vest, chest pack, or lanyard. What do most fly fishers like and why? The reason Im not sure is because I know you may go from one spot to another and might be moving, So Im not sure if just a small pack would be what I would want?
Thank You
Rambo
There are usually as many answers to that question as there are fly fishers.
Personally, I have a tech vest - two pods on the front and one on the back - but I use a lanyard for the quick trips where I know exactly what to throw at them.
A lot of guys prefer to have everything right there when they need it. I've found that I need a fly box or two, forceps, nips, floatant, tippet, and a net. Past that, it's just extra stuff i might need.
Select the fly boxes your gonna use and take them with you to make sure they will fit in what ever your gonna buy. This Is this best tip I can give you on this subject.
Its a personal choice but most fly flingers.I know think that they need it all (gizmos) In the beginning. And eventually start lightening the load once there going to known water.
O and welcome to the board and fly fishing! Lots good advice and people here.
JJ
Hey Rambo! Welcome to fly fishin'.It's all personal preference, but most guys I know started out with a vest. There's lots of 'em, regulars, shorties, mesh, and even those with co2 charges float chambers for when ya take a header while wading in fast water. I personally go with a vest still after fourty some years of fishin. In the warm months it's a little warm, so I just use a lanyard and the pockets of my shorts.
I have several gear bags full of absolutely necessary :shock: stuff, but I just use the vest, or travel light.
Oh, I also have a small net, and always a wading staff, especially since my hip replacement last year.
Happy Fishin...........................ModocDan
If I'm standing up most likely I'll be wearing a vest
If it's hot or I'll be sitting down,....lanyard
I tried a chest pack, they're not for people of the "jolly" size :shock:
You can't see your feet.
Hay I resemble that remark !!! 8)Quote:
Originally Posted by dudley
I had a cheep vest, didnt like it, I couldnt find anything when I was canoe fishing. bought a fanny pack, love it in the canoe don't like it when fishing for trout in streams/rivers, love the Lanyard for both. I have come to the conclusion I wll set the fanny pack up for warm water and set up a light vest for streams rivers. and use the lanyard for both. 8)
Eric
It used to be that every fly fisher had to have a vest. There were reasons for that. Back in the day, most people walked or waded the rivers and streams so you had to have the needed or possibly needed equipment with you. The last thing you want to do is hike back two miles just to get some very important piece of gear/equipment that you forgot.
That still holds true today, if you are going to be walking/wade a river and travel a good distance from your rig. Buy a vest if that is how you are going to fish. Some vests are made partly out of a mesh material to allow for better cooling. The downside is that by the end of the day your shoulders and back will ache a lot, just because you have a vest that has all these nifty pockets and you have to fill them will stuff. Even with a vest, a lanyard is great for holding the tools you are going to definitely need--- hemostats, clippers, nail knot tool, Orvis or Cabela?s Cinch knot tool, floatant, one container of tippet, fishing license, digital camera, etc.
If you are going to fish near your rig and maybe you are on a river that won?t allow you to travel the bank much, then you will be going back to your truck to move to another location. A chest pack would work very nicely and also wear the lanyard.
Now days, the chest packs rival the vest in size and ability to carry items, so buy wisely.
If you are going to be fishing out of a boat most of the time then the lanyard is the only thing you need to wear and buy a gear bag or water tight bag for the rest of your stuff. Your back will thank you at days end.
I use a Mayfly Pouch/Lanyard. The small pouch carries what I need when I am fishing out of a drift boat or my pontoon boat and the rest of my stuff is in the gear bag.
Decide what type of fishing you are going to do and buy accordingly. In the long run you will end up with a vest, a lanyard and a chest pack, it is the nature of the game.
Larry
:D
Wanted to thank you guys for your opinion's on my posting. I hope with the experience I get from fly fishing someday Ill try to pass on what I have learned from all of you guys.
Thanks
Rambo
Don't forget about the hybrid "pouch lanyard"... 8)
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...0004281314990a
Rambo,
I hike a lot of small trout streams. I'll usually hike between 3-8 miles. That's why I prefer a hydration fly-fishing pack for access to water immediately. I have the [url=http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice.asp?pf_id=53XR&feature_id=&dir_id=7 58&group_id=781&cat_id=5093&subcat_id=6670:13505]Orvis Safe Passage Hydration Pack[/url:13505] and love using it. It's a bit pricey though. The [url=http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choice.asp?pf_id=96YT&feature_id=&dir_id=7 58&group_id=781&cat_id=5093&subcat_id=6670:13505]Original Lightweight Safe Passage Pack[/url:13505] is on sale for $69 but you'll have to buy a hydration bladder. The [url=http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/204,72899_Watermark-Hydro-Vest-Pack.html:13505]Watermark Hydration Pack[/url:13505] is on sale for $44.95 but you'll still have to buy a hydration bladder.
If you do not plan on hiking that much than a mesh vest would be a better idea. Just giving you some more to ponder. Good-luck!
this is the first time i've ever heard of other anglers using the Mayfly pocket-lanyard-thingie, so i had to chime in. it's nifty because it's too small to lose anything in. i especially like that if it's hot and i'm wearing light clothing, the lanyard is padded and it fits comfortably. if it's cold and i'm wearing lots of heavy clothing, the lanyard just goes over my head and everything else, and it fits comfortably. It's too small to get too heavy with stuff. i always wear a belt so the net, staff, and water hang off that. if it's cold enough to need an extra sweater, it goes into my waders at the back. so does lunch--bagels don't squash like bread, and granola bars bend better than cookies. leave the fruit in the car for the ride home.
geez--sorry. i sound like someone's mother. :roll:
As, already been stated wisely... "there's as many opinions on this, as there are fly fishermen"! Couldn't agree, more on THAT!
But.........."'since ya' asked".
After 30 years of turning various waters to beer foam, trying to get a fly out further than 3 feet, I've used everything from the lanyards to vests, to chest packs, and back again to a vest.
The chest packs have one big advantage, I always liked, over everything else: When standing out, in the middle of a rushing stream, trying to change a spool or tie on a fly you always had this "nice, convenient, drop down instantly- little table" to work on. I've saved a lot of tools and a few reel spools, because this little table gave me something to use when my 10 thumbs couldn't keep a-hold of whatever I was doing at the time!
Of course, it also put everything I ever needed on any given trip, right there in front of me. When zipped closed, there wasn't a single tool hanging and jangling, out in the open, "making me sound like a gunfighter walking down main street to meet my arch enemy".
But, due to neck surgery a while back, I had to hang up my trusty pack and go back to a vest again. I chose the "Sage Brush Tech Vest" by Fishpond. It's a mesh vest and has more than enough room to carry the miniature fly shop I always insist on carrying with me!
I still walk a great deal, on most days fishing and frankly, as for the "lanyards" I never could see where to stick my rain gear, a shed sweater, or, my water and lunch, on one of those "Montana Neckties"!?
But, like has also, already been stated................ "If you stick with this sport, (and I hope that you DO!), you'll end up with all, 3, anyway so try each out and see which one works best for you!!
Okay...........Now I gotta get one a them Mayfly jobs. Thanks guys !
And here I was thinkin I had it ( almost ) right :shock: Thing is, that Mayfly job looks like the coolest yet !
I love my Cabelas vest, but, this summer I was thinkin it seemed like I had a lot of stuff I didn't need to pack around. :) ..........ModocDan
....................Jolly size ?? ya mean me ?? My feet are underwater anyway.................
Rambo..........
I used to use a Orvis Tack-L-Pack vest for many years but it got kinda warm in the summer time.
I don?t think that I would like a chest pack because it impairs vision to your footing while slipping and sliding in a stream.
I think a lanyard would drive me nuts with all the junk dangling around my neck.
Last year I started to use on of these:
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/4305 ... tchel.html
It goes over your shoulder and is VERY comfortable and cool in the summer.
The main body of the pack sits behind your back and is slid around when you want to get something out of it.
It has become my favorite.
Hope this helps,
DickM.
I'm a vest guy.
I travel light but like the convenience of all the pockets on a vest.
I have a fly box, several spools of tippet (4X, 5X 6X 7X), hemostats, clippers, a small flashlight, magnifying glasses, polarized sunglasses, my net, pocket knife, a couple cigars, a couple spare leaders, tie fast knot tool, floatant, pocket camera. If I'm going to be far away from my car, I'll carry a bottle of water, some snacks, and some toilet paper (only had to use it once, but it sure did come in handy).
I guess there is other stuff I could carry and do have some pockets on the vest that are empty, but I've never been on the water and been without something I needed.
Jeff